The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1887-01-14
Mr. Gladstonc's advice about raising
small fruits to make into jam.

Mr. Gladstonc's advice about raising
small fruits to make into jam.
An experienced poultry raiser ad-
vises people to reduce the stock OF fowls
as soon as the years hatch is we'll pro-
vided for, but hold on to old turkeys
and old geese; they get used to the ways
Of the farm and are worth much more
as breeders than young ones. Ducks
also are good until years old. A tur-
key is in her prime ut 8. goose at 20
years of age.
A California paper says the great
plateau between the Rocky mountains
and the Sierras, comprising the terri
tory OF Utah and the State of Nevada,
is apparently destined to become the
greatest cattle range of the country.
Immense tracts of land, some embrac-
ing 100000 acres, have been purchased,
and owners of large herds IN Texas and
other southwestern States are looking
for ranges IN this wide section of natur.
al pasture-land.
A correspondent of the Beekeepers'
Magazine holds that it Is generally a
poor location for beekceping where
the bees have TO 60 eastward TO
pasturage, as nine out of ten of our
thunder storms are from the west, and
where the bees are out a mile and the
storm comes up quickly it usually meets
the heavily laden workers before they
reach the hive, and many are thus do
stroyed.
Diseases are often communicated BY
feeding horses in stalls which have been
occupied previously by diseased ami
mails. Such stalls should first be thor
oughly cleaned and disinfected. To do
this, take pint of sulphuric acid and
put it in a bucket of water. Then, with
an old mop. wash all parts of the stall.
especially the trough or manger. All
stalls should be occasionally so disin-
fected, as their constant use permits
them to gradually become unfit abodes
Of the animals.
English horticulturists plant mistletoe
on apple trees. Selecting a clear piece
Of bark on the upper side Of a three or
four year old branch they rub on the
berries, which. will be found to adhere
easily. After three months the seed
will be seen to have thrown out the
sucker-like roots. and the young plants
will rapidly increase in size until the
apple tree is covered with dense mass
of mistletoes from top to bottom, laden
with berries. This parasite, however.
is not natural to the United States. The
summers are too hot and dry and the
winters too cold.
The sweet potato is to the south about
what the common potato is to Ireland
or Germany. 1t forms q very large
part of the food of the negroes and poor
whites-in fact, it frequently takes the
place of bread to great extent The
favorite way of cooking it here is to
bake it in the oven or in the ashes.
The children are fond of burying the
potatoes in the ashes at night. so that
they may slowly cook all night The
southern grown sweet potatoes are
larger and swsetsr than those grown at
the north. Those raised in Mexico are
very sweet indeed.
Sheep-raisers may be enabled to form
some idea of the magnitude of the WOOL
growing industry in New South Wales
from the following figures. In 1885 the
number of lambs shorn in the grease
was 4.113,383; the number washed. a.
584-making a total of 4, 155, 967 lambs
shorn. The number of sheep shorn in
the grease was 28,324,595; hot water
and spout-washed, $4,000; creek-washed,
642, 421, and secured. 267. $50. In thirty
six districts the clip was reported as
good and sound, in four districts poor
and unsound, in three districts light but
sound, and in the remaining districts
fairly sound but wanting in yoke. The
total clip in the colony for the year 1885
according to the number of sheep and
lambD would be 165, 095, 249 pounds.
Mr.. A. E. Perkins, Pomfret, VT, al
luding to the decline in the demand for
merino sheep for breeding, says we
must increase the size of our stock not
by crossing with other breeds. but by
judicious selection of larger, better-con-
stitutioned merinos, having fewer wrin-
kles, less grease. and longer staple 1t
can be done, and that too, in a season.
able time, by selection and good keep
ing. Other breeders of fine wool sheep
who have found their sales falling off
since the decline in price of wool are
taking the same view of the situation.
They will endeavor to get the wrinkled
merino pelts to unfold, smooth out, and
cover a larger carcass. II will not
longer do to ignore the mutton value of
a sheep in addition to what it can do in
the production of fine wool. ....
Prof. Long. of England. advises
working people to keep goat, because
it ean be kept more cheaply than any
other animal and will yield profitable
return in milk. He thinks the expense
of maintaining one would not exceed
s. year. while it will eat almost any
kind of food and yield from the time of
kidding and for six months from II to 2
quarts of milk per day, worth at least 8
cents a quart In some parts of the
continent of Europe where goats are
cultivated for checse-making. it is COM
mon for them TO milk nine months, but
in that case they are well managed and
selected. In the district of Mount
dor, France, famous for its cheese. the
number OF goats kept many years ago
was eleven thousand, and the average
yield per head was two quarts daily.
These fiocks have gradually diminished,
and their place been taken by cows